In a hospital
it’s difficult to listen
to sad, scary sounds
“code blue” on intercoms
wailing, grieving families
beep-beep-beep of machines —
But if you listen
more carefully
you can hear
the sound of hope
of healing, love, and support
caring, confident voices
of nurses and doctors and staff
the din and melodies of
our imperfect and indispensable
healthcare plexus at work
poems
Phases of morning
sky becomes full dawn
towhees call out to half moon
at quarter till sun
Stages of Papago Orange Blossom
segmented,
fermented,
demented.
entry in my beer tasting journal for Huss Brewing Co.’s Papago Orange Blossom, a delicious Arizona vanilla mandarin wheat ale
Westerly
sunset casts shadows
yet we see only colors
and glorious light
Stages
Spring is a lively swing towards summer
Summer is a hot salsa towards autumn
Autumn is an elegant ballet towards winter
Winter is a slow waltz towards spring
Lapse
At 2 pm, doves coo
an afternoon lullaby —
drowsy ticking
drowns out work —
the clock’s face
and leaden hands
fall napping into
the hour’s warm lap —
minutes nod off and
sleepy seconds snore
digesting noon away —
time teeters —
its breathing slows
weighed down by
heavy parts of day —
Iridescent
the years sprint, sail, drift, fly —
days melt into sleep
decades we no longer know
by taste or smell, yes
but hard fast memories tend not to keep —
youth lives on — yet, is long gone
birds chirp each spring anew
but our hearts sing the same shades
of childhood colors we once knew
Starlings
European starlings
multiply like weeds
they are avian Borg
assimilating resistlessly
they are teenage girls
who will always travel
to the restroom together —
from yellow beaks
oddly alien noises
and so much chatter —
one or two are cute
but the whole crowd
is so flocking loud!
Verdin
the tiny birdie verdin
wears his heart on his sleeve
and sunshine on his head —
a hyper handsome hopper
with acrobatic feats —
calling chip chip chip
and singing dulcet tsweets
Grackles
A trio of virile grackles
skyward tilt their bills
puff up blacklit plumage
shriek and cackle and shrill
fan their great-tailed fannies
as knights in shining ardor
they strut around each other
just to try and get the girl!
Pearl grey
Aging—
grayer shores
calmer deeper waters
Narrative
Age composes poems
upon our faces —
with more meaning
and fewer rhymes
every passing year
A long winter
Santayana, the philosopher, warns of a long winter
approaching—one of those seasons which periodically
overtake civilization. We might argue; nevertheless
bleak signs blow across the wind.
—Evan S. Connell, Jr. (1924–2013), Points for a Compass Rose, 1973